It’s a sequel to “Tinker, Taylor, Soldier, Spy”, set around Hong Kong and South East Asia. Mostly retold as memoirs: “Afterwards, in the dusty little corners where London’s secret servants drink together, there was argument about where the Dolphin case history should really begin.”
The plot revolves around a journalist/spy, Westerby, that on behalf of British Secret Services tries to shake a Hong Kong millionaire that allies with the Russians to extract his brother from Communist China.
One point that bothered me is that Westerby is obsessed with Lizzie, the millionaire mistress, as he travels along Cambodia, Vietnam and Laos. All that despite having a single dinner with her. A bit creepy, I’d say.
As someone wrote in a review I read, the whole story though feels very inconsequental. The whole operation is set as if to somehow uncover the Russian head of spies. But in the end, it’s like Le Carre forgot about the goal, along his characters, as Westerby is obsesses with buying off Lizzie (which by that point he met twice), while all Smiley gets is some secrets about Chinese submarine program?
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